Method and apparatus for opening sheet metal containers



May 13, 1952 K. F. PIETZSCH METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPENING SHEET METAL CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 4, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR AUif F. P/[TZJCfl ATTO NEY z nmllm y 3, 1952 K. F. PIETZSCH 2,596,432 I METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPENING SHEET METAL CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 4, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR KURT F: P/ETZJCH,

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ATTO NEY y 13, 1952 K. F. PIETZSCH 2,596,432

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPENING SHEET METAL CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 4. 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet s ATT RNEY Patented May 13, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FORDPENING 'SHEET"METAL CONTAINERS .zKurt. :Pietzsch, South Hills, Pa., .assignor .to ,AmericanGyanamid Company,l\lew.York,TNJ Y...

.a corporation of Maine Application August 4, 1949,'SerlalNo. 108,465.

3 Claims. 1

soda and the like, it is now therpractlce-to charge the material to "be packaged into .aisheet :rnetal container while it lisin liquidrform, the :material becom-ing hardened or setafter the container has been filled. "It *is :a principal objectsof" the present inventionto provide'an improved'methodzand apparatus for opening-'such'sheet :metaldrums,

a particular a'dvantage being that-the-sheetmetal of the side wall is not damagedxhy the copening procedure. and can'be recovered intact. A further advantage of the method "and apparatus of'the invention is the fact "that the :solid contents of drums of *the foregoing "type are broken .into pieces and can he removed rapidly and completely, even in cases where the hardened material has stuekto the interior 'walls o'f the drum.

The method of'my invention consists essentla'lly in the steps of thrusting a pair of oppositely disposed plungers of suitable size through the end "pieces of the sheet metal drum and thereby causing a su'fiicient lateral displacement of its solid contents to burst the longitudinal seam of the drum, whilesimultaneously 'or subsequently cutting radially throughthe end pieces and end seams of the drum so that the drum can bespread open alongits side-'and'the contents discharged through the i opened side 'wall. With the-drum spread open in this position anyrosin or other. solidified material adhering to its inner "walls canreadily be dislodged and discharged :by "tapping the outer walls withaarhammer. .After the -opendrum has been removedfrom .the'drurn splitting machine the end pieces can be easily separated and the :side wall recovered ;asasingle sheet of metal, which sheet canspread out :fiat and used .forsiding or roofing of buildings or rior other purposes.

To. the accomplishment :of theforegoing and :other objects which will appear from the fol- .lowing descriptionythe invention consists in the process steps and in thecomhination and arrangement: of parts hereinafter more particularly and. ribs.

2 described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referringlto the drawings: Fig. 1 isra plan view of a drum splittingpress embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-.2 of .Fig. .1,

in'the'direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 illustrates -a drum having atmlledside seam and rolled end seams, as dealt withfby the invention.

Figs-.4 and :5-aresections on the linesfiland es-.5 respectively oillig..3,.showinglthe seams of the drum.

Fig. 6 isa detailshowingthe eXtremelinnerlpositions of the plungersand knives,and

Fig. 7 .15 aisimilar detail takenon-the line 1 1 of Fig. 6.

Fig.8 is a diagrammatic illustration [showing the connections of the oil lines and valves .inthe hydraulic pressure unit.

Referring to Figs. Land 2 of the. drawings the drumsplitting press indicated generally by reference numeral I is supported on ,a basemade :upof pairs ofchannel beamsZ and .Bconnected by transverse beams that are notshown. At

one endpf this time an angular drum-holding frame 4 isbolted while a platform 5 havingelevatedlsides-fi and l and carrying a power transmission system 8 isattached to the other end.

A lowerrod 9 .is so supported ina sleeve min the front .wall of the platform 5 .andin a sleeve H ,in the frame 4 that it can he moved longitudinally in these sleeves. An upper rod I2 is similarly supported in a sleevelS welded in the side wallet and land ina sleeve 14 inthe frame .4.

oppositely disposed plungers l5 and I G are attached respectively to supports I! and [B which are carried bythe rods. 9. and! 2.

.As is shown in Big. 2 .the.drum-.-holdingj.frame 4 is made up of a-iloor l9 and a back .20 with bracing ribsZl and 22fand sides 23 and, containing openings 25 for the plungers l5 and I6. I'he sleeves II and i4 arewelded into thesesides The floor 19 has an opening 26 in which a chute 21 may be located. Rollers 29 are mounted in this opening on the ends .of shafts .30 which are Jcurna-lled .in the horizontal portions of the ribs 2! :and 22 and in the side walls '23 and .24. These rollers are so spaced that a :drum, indicated at =31 by dottedlinesgmay'he supported thereon with its horizontal axis aligned with the centers of the plungers I5 and I5.

The power transmission system 8 consists of a central hydraulic cylinder 35 and a pair of outer hydraulic cylinders 36 and 31 all of which are bolted to floor plates 38 and 39. The central cylinder 35 actuates the plunger I5 by the lateral movement of its shaft 40, the height of the platform 5 being such that the cylinder and plunger are in alignment. The outer cylinders 36 and 5! actuate shafts M and 42, these being fastened by connecting arms 43 and M to a truss :35 containing collars 46 and 41 which are pinned to the ends of the rods 9 and I2 respectively.

The outer plunger support I8 is similar in its construction to the truss 45, being made up of a pair of plates 4'8 and 49 connected by collars 5! and 5| that surround and are pinned to the ends of rods '9 and I2. ihe inner plunger support IT, on the other hand, is slidably mounted on the rods 9 and I2 by means of bearings 52 and 53. Movement of the shafts 4| and 42 therefore causes a corresponding lateral movement of the rods 9 and I2, the plunger support It and the plunger l6, while the plunger I5 and its support H are moved in the opposite direction by the shaft 40 working in cylinder 35.

As is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 8, the cylinders 35, 36 and 31 contain pistons 5d, 55 and 56 which move by the pressure of oil in the oil lines illustrated diagrammatically by the flow lines. on the drawings. The oil supply for the central cylinder 35 is held in a reservoir 5'! containing an oil pump (not shown) driven by a motor 58. The direction of flow of the oil to and from the cylinder 35 is controlled by a four-way valve 59, which is preferably a piston valve controlled by a rod 55. The outer cylinders 3'6 and 3! are connected in parallel by oil lines 5! and 62. which lines are in turn connected to a piston valve 63 by lines 6 3 and 65. An oil reservoir 55 containing an oil pump driven by the motor 61 is connected by oil lines 68 and 59 to the valve I53. It will thus be seen that the outer cylinders 36 and 37 work together to impart a uniform lateral movement to their rods GI and 22, while rod 40 can be moved simultaneously in the opposite direction by the cylinder 35. By this means, the plungers I 5 and I6 are caused to move into or out of engagement with the drum 5! when the valves 59 and 63 are operated.

The plungers I5 and I6 are constructed with rounded ends It and "II to penetrate the sheet metal ends of the drums and break up the solid contents thereof and with cylindrical body portions I2 and 15 carrying pairs of knives M and 75. As is shown in Fig. 6, the upper knife 1'6 of each pair is relatively short and terminates below the sheet metal side wall of the drum 3 I. The lower knives ii, on the other hand, extend below the bottom of the side wall of the drum so that their lateral movement will cut through the end seams thereof. By this arrangement the knives I4 and 15 are caused to make radial cuts through the end walls of the drum 3i, these cuts including the end seams but leaving the upper side wall of the drum intact.

The advantages of the method of 'my'invention will'become apparent from a consideration of Figs. 3-7 of the drawings and the foregoing description. In Fig. 3 a conventional sheet metal drum is shown. This type of drum is constructed with a rolled or crimped side seam it, as shown in Fig. 4, and with similar rolled or crimped end seams 19 that are shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

In opening such a drum by the process of my invention the drum is placed on the rollers 23 and rotated until its horizontal seam I8 is at the bottom of the drum. The plungers I5 and IE are then pressed into the end walls of the drum. The resulting lateral displacement of the frangible solid material contained in the drum causes the seam 18 to burst open. Simultaneously or immediately thereafter the knives I4 and I5 out through the end walls of the drum, the lower knives l? severing the end seams I9 at the points where these end seams were originally joined by the side seam E5. Inasmuch as this side seam has been opened, the knives I! do not damage the sheet metal composing the side wall of the drum. The condition of the drum after this operation has been completed is shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

With the drum as shown in Fig. 7, the two ends can easily be detached from the body portion thereof, if desired, and the originally cylindrical body portion can then be spread out to form a flat sheet metal plate. A number of such plates can easily be stacked and stored or shipped in a minimum of space and find a ready market as sidings for barns or sheds, as roofing material, and for other similar purposes.

Although the invention has been described wit reference to the opening of sheet metal drums of rolled end construction, it will be understood that its principles are not limited thereto. On the contrary, the process of my invention may be applied to any drum having a side seam that can be opened by lateral internal pressure, regardless of the construction of the end seams thereof. The particular advantage obtained with a drum havinga rolled end seam construction is the fact that the end pieces can be most readily removed in the manner described above; however, it will be evident that drums having-sealed or. soldered end seam constructions can be similarly treated.

What I claim is: 1. A method of opening a sheet metal container filled with frangible solid material and having end pieces and a side wall containing a longitudinal seam which comprises supporting said container with said longitudinal seam positioned horizontally beneath, thrusting a pair of oppositely disposed plungers intosaid container through said end pieces and thereby causing a sufiicient lateral displacement of its solid contents to burst said longitudinal seam, cutting said end pieces radially from the points where they are joined by the side seam, and thereby'spreading the container to permit its contents to discharge through said burst longitudinal seam.

2. A machine for opening a sheet metal drum containing frangible solid material which comprises in combination means for supporting said drum on its side and for rotating said thus supported drum about its longitudinal axis a pair of oppositely disposed plungers adapted to penetrate the ends of said drum and cause a lateral displacement ,of the solid material contained therein, knives on said plungers adapted to cut the ends of said drum, and means for moving said plungers laterally into and out of engagement with said drum.

3. A machine for opening a sheet metal drum containing frangible solid material comprising in combination a drum-holding frame, rollers in said frame for rotatably supporting said drum on its side, a pair of rods slidably mounted adjacent said rollers and movable parallel to the axis of a drum supported thereon, a plunger support attached to said rods at one side of said frame and carrying a plunger adapted to engage one end of a drum on said rollers, a second plunger support slidably mounted on said rods on the opposite side of said frame and carrying a second plunger adapted to engage the opposite end of said drum, knives on said plungers adapted to cut the ends of said drum, means for moving said rods and thereby bringing said first plunger into and out of engagement with said drum, and means for sliding said second plunger support on said rods and thereby bringing said second plunger into and out of engagement with said drum.

KURT F. PIETZSCH.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record :in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 781,508 Fernow Jan. 31, 1905 1,006,439 Cosby Oct. 17, 1911 1,376,798 Courtney May 3, 1921 2,145,779 Puderbaugh Jan. 31, 1939 2,178,461 Apprill Oct. 31, 1939 2,496,606 Smith Feb. 7, 1950 

